Man to Man
by goldeneyes07
Summary: Ryoki learns a lesson from Shinogu about being a real man. ShinoguHatsumi Don't forget to REVIEW!


"Man to Man"

**Hey! I'm back with another one! I know, I know I should be finishing the stories I already have started, but new ideas keep popping into my head. I can't help it… I'll try to get back to those, but until that time, here's my latest fanfic!! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hot Gimmick or any of the characters. They are Miki Aihara's beautiful creations!**

**I also don't own "Man to Man." The song is by Gary Allan.**

**goldeneyes07**

"_Thoughts"_

"Talking"

**Song lyrics**

Man to Man

It was a serene Sunday afternoon. All was quiet until…

"AGHHHHH!!!"

Up on the top floor of the complex, crashes, booms, and hollers could be heard for miles around.

"How DARE he?!" A very steamed Ryoki was furiously pacing the room almost to the point of wearing a hole through the floor, throwing anything in sight.

"Ah...um...Ryo, try to settle down…" Subaru mad a very feeble attempt to stop his friend's rampage.

"SETTLE DOWN?!" Ryoki roared, "How can I possibly "settle down" when my girlfriend chose her own brother over me?!?! She had ME! What else did she possibly need? Well, if Hatsumi thinks she's gonna get away this easily then she's got another thing coming!" With that, Ryoki stormed out of his room and down to the bottom floor, Subaru tagging closely behind and frantically calling his name.

Meanwhile…

Shinogu's POV

Outside, Hatsumi and Shinogu were sitting under a sakura tree on a picnic blanket. Shinogu eased back onto his elbows and pulled Hatsumi along as he went down. Their bodies collided with a small squeak out of Hatsumi, but she soon began to giggle. Shinogu looked down at the brown-haired goddess and smiled contently. He closed his dark orbs and took a deep breath as a balmy breeze surrounded the couple. Hatsumi soon reached her hands up to the back of Shinogu's head and twirled the strands of ebony in her fingers.

Out of nowhere, Hatsumi abruptly stood up, surprising Shinogu. He gave her a questioning look, furrowing his eyebrows, mad that the special treatment came to a halt. This caused her to laugh.

"_I must be the luckiest guy in the world. Thank you God for giving me this chance. I promise to never do Hatsumi wrong_." Shinogu silently swore as his ears filled with Hatsumi's angelic ringing laughter.

Hatsumi leaned down and perched herself on Shinogu's lap, straddling her legs while facing him. She leaned in as she wrapped her thin arms around Shinogu's neck. Hatsumi teased Shinogu by giving him as Eskimo kiss.

He smiled, "You do know all of this torture is killing me, right?"

Hatsumi replied, "But it's worth it." He smiled and then pushed his lips on hers. As the sweet kiss deepened, Shinogu leaned all the way down until hi was flat on his back. The young girl hardly seemed to notice as he wrapped his arms around his love's waist. He rolled Hatsumi over until she was on the bottom. Shinogu smiled against her kiss as his mind schemed and soon came up with a devilish plan. At that moment, a pair of hands approached Hatsumi's unprotected sides and began their assault.

"Shi-Shinogu!!! Hahahahahaha! Th-that's not fair! Hehehehehe!" Hatsumi began to argue with laughter.

Suddenly, the tickle sensation stopped, and Hatsumi pouted as she stared into the eyes above her. Shinogu once again smiled and placed a kiss first on Hatsumi's forehead, then left cheek, right cheek, nose (earning a giggle out of the girl underneath him), and finally lips, concentrating just on her. Both were on cloud 9.

Hatsumi's head was swimming, _"I can't believe all of this special treatment. I can't possibly deserve him."_

Pulling Hatsumi out of her thoughts, Shinogu whispered in her ear hotly, "I love you, Hatsumi, you and only you. Forever and ever."

Hatsumi sighed, "Me too, Shinogu, me too."

The couple turned to look up at the sakura blossoms. They lay like that for some time, holding hands and just enjoying each other's company.

Suddenly, there was a huge "SLAM" of the front door. Both Shinogu's and Hatsumi's heads shot up. Ryoki stormed over with Subaru frantically running by his side. Shinogu stood up and helped Hatusmi up.

"Hatsumi, stay behind me," Shinogu ordered. Hatsumi nodded as she obediently stepped behind.

"Don't try to hide that idiot!" Ryoki's words stung as Hatsumi clung tighter to Shinogu's shirt.

"She's no worth anything! And you! Don't get me started with you!" Ryoki continued, "You're the jerk that stole her away in the first place! Well if she's the kind of girl who's desperate enough to take her own BROTHER, then keep her!" Ryoki turned and began to stomp away grumbling.

"Hatsumi, wait here with Subaru," Shinogu told her.

"Shinogu, please. Don't…" Hatsumi pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"I can't allow this to continue, Hatsumi," Shinogu argued.

"But…He's hurting. It's just the way he's dealing with it all…" Hatsumi said.

"But so are you! I can't stand around watching you being torn apart by him!" Shinogu declared as he left to find Ryoki.

Shinogu finally caught up to his target and shoved him to get his attention.

**You're throwin' around a lot of serious accusations  
Ain't too hard to tell what you're insinuatin'  
You think I'm the one who stole her away  
If not for me she'd still be yours today  
We're both men here so why play games  
Why don't we call a spade a spade**

"She would have left you anyway. How long do you think she was going to put up with you, Ryoki?" Shinogu said, "I'm not the problem here. The real problem is you, Ryo! Are you so blinded by hatred to see even that?!"

**Man to man  
Tell me the truth, tell me  
Were you ever there when she needed you  
Man to man  
Look me in the eye, tell me  
If you really loved her  
Why'd you make her cry  
Man to man  
Who cheated who  
You're the one to blame  
Tell me it ain't true  
Man to man  
Man to man**

"Think about it man. Have you ever been there for her when she was in need?" Shinogu asked.

Ryoki went into a deep thought. Hatsumi was crying, yet again, _"Ryoki, my dad…He's going to lose his job! I still can't believe that he was having an affair! He's not…like that. Is he?" _

"_Ugh, she shouldn't come to me with all of her sappy, demanding problems," Ryoki thought._

Another situation appeared_. "Ryo, my brother is leaving! What should I do? I can't just live without him anymore."_ Hatsumi cried.

"_Damn whining. He's not even her real brother for crying out loud!" _Ryoki thought.

Judging by Ryoki's long period of silence, Shinogu knew his point had been made.

**Well you think all you anger is justified  
Me, I think, it's just your wounded pride   
What did you really think she was gonna do  
She's a real woman, not a doormat for you  
You want her back, but it's too late   
Why don't we just cut to the chase**

Ryoki opened still fresh memories of the day Hatsumi finally said goodbye.

**FlashBack**

"Ryoki…" Hatsumi looked melancholy while fiddling with her jacket zipper.

"What is it now?!" Ryoki shot back, pissed after running over to Shinogu's house to take Hatsumi back once again.

Hatsumi shied away a little. She looked down and mumbled, "Icantseeyouanymoreryoki." Ryoki, stunned at what he thought he heard, grabbed her frail shoulders causing her to stare him in the eye.

"What did you say?" Ryoki demanded.

The trembling girl took a deep brath and shot back, "I won't see you anymore, Ryoki!" Ryoki was taken aback by her assertiveness. "Ryo, I'm sorry, but I can't keep doing this to my family. I love you, really I do, but every time I'm with you, I feel terrible, like I'm not good enough…I…" Hatsumi started to tear up, "Also…also, I think I'm in love with Shinogu!" Ryoki as well as Hatsumi was utterly shocked by this bold declaration.

"Fine then! If that's how you truly feel, then go! I don't need you anyway!" Ryoki yelled lacing generous amounts of venom in his voice.

Hatsumi was pushed out of Ryoki's room and had the door slammed in her face. She slumped down against the door. Small streams of salty water trickled down her face and made her pale yellow corduroy skirt moist. She murmured through the sharp pain, "You'll always be my first love. You have that special place in my heart." Hatsumi clasped her hands over her chest.

On the other side of the wooden barrier, Ryoki too had fallen down and was weeping, weeping for what he had just lost.

**End FlashBack**

**Man to man  
Tell me the truth, tell me  
Were you ever there when she needed you  
Man to man  
Look me in the eye, tell me  
If you really loved her  
Why'd you make her cry  
Man to man  
Who cheated who  
You're the one to blame  
Tell me it ain't true  
Man to man**

In the end, he truly was just that frightened little boy trying to hold on to the only thing he could call his own.

"But she was never mine to begin with," Ryoki muttered, his blonde bangs shielding his hurt expression from unwanted eyes.

Ryoki's hands clutched into fists as pools began to hotly well up at the corners of his eyes, "I haven't changed one bit… How could I have been so blind?" Ryoki asked himself.

Ryoki's POV

"_All I ever wanted was something just for me. My father… he had his precious company and his secret life hidden from his own flesh and blood. My mother… she had the entire complex that practically worshipped the ground she walked on. But what did I have? I thought… if Hatsumi fell in love with me… she'd forget about everything else, her family, her brother, friends, everything! How could I have been so foolish?" _

Normal POV

Ryoki quickly composed himself, not being the type to show his sensitive side to just anyone. He briskly turned and strode back to Hatsumi. Shinogu smiled and jogged to catch up.

Hatsumi's POV

"_I know you're hurting me Ryoki, but I also know that deep down, you're hurting more... I pray you can find peace soon." _Hatsumi sat solemnly with her hands folded in prayer, with her head bowed.

Normal POV

Hatsumi opened one eye a sliver to see Subaru dozing off, his mouth slightly ajar. She smiled at her odd friend and turned her vision to see… Ryoki! Hatsumi quickly sprung up, startling Subaru.

Subaru's eyes opened groggily and shouted, "Ryo?!" Ryoki finally walked up to the pair with Shinogu at his side. Hatsumi ran to Ryoki opening her arms for a comforting hug when…

Ryoki's hands stiffly caught Hatsumi's arms. He intently stared at her and handed her off to Shinogu, closing her hands in his. Ryoki backed away as Shinogu hugged the dumbfounded girl.

**Man to man  
Tell me the truth, tell me  
Were you ever there when she needed you  
Man to man  
Look me in the eye, tell me  
If you really loved her  
Why'd you make her cry  
Man to man  
Who cheated who  
You're the one to blame  
Tell me it ain't true  
Man to man  
Man to man**

Ryoki smirked as he whipped off his glasses. A strong breeze tousled his shiny wheat-colored locks as hi turned to walk off, Subaru following with a puzzled look on his face.

**Man to man...to man...to man...to man...to man...to man  
Man to man...to man...to man...to man...to man...to man**

"Way to be a man, Ryo," Shinogu whispered approvingly as Hatsumi snuggled closer to her love wit a smile.

"_I knew you could do it Ryoki,"_ Hatsumi thought. Sakura blossoms danced gleefully around signifying everything was right with the world…

"Some day I WILL steal her away from you!! Just you wait!!" Ryoki stood off in the distance with the bright sun reflecting off of his glasses and a huge grin plastered on his face.

Hatsumi and Shinogu both sweat-dropped. Ok, well _ALLMOST_ everything was right with the world. Who says life is perfect?

Shinogu turned to Hatsumi, "Over my dead body," he growled, "I'm never letting you go," Shinogu gripped Hatsumi tighter, possessively.

Hatsumi giggled, "You and he both know you already stole my heart away," Hatsumi leaned in and lightly pecked Shinogu's warm lips.

Shinogu's heart leaped as he swung her in circles deepening the kiss as the sweet, sweet cherry blossoms joined their dance.


End file.
